News

Setoguchi's goal helps Wild make playoffs for 1st time in 5 years with 3-1 win over Avs

Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, front, of Russia, clears the puck from the side of the net as Minnesota Wild left wing Zach Parise comes in from the boards in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Saturday, April 27, 2013. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Author: The Hockey News

News

Setoguchi's goal helps Wild make playoffs for 1st time in 5 years with 3-1 win over Avs

DENVER - Lounging in front of his locker, music blaring in the background, Mikko Koivu chatted about what it meant to the team, the organization and the city to make it back to the playoffs for the first time in five years.

Yeah, but what about him? What did it mean to him?

Only then did the gravity of the moment begin to dawn on the captain of the Minnesota Wild.

"This," Koivu said, "is a big deal."

That's putting it mildly.

Devin Setoguchi broke a second-period tie and Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots, helping the Wild secure the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Zach Parise scored and Pierre-Marc Bouchard added a late empty-net goal for the Wild, who earned the No. 8 seed and will face top-seeded Chicago in the first round of the post-season. Minnesota had a chance to wrap up a spot on Friday, but fell 6-1 at home to Edmonton.

That lopsided loss led to an anxious 24 hours. It also led to a team meeting, when coach Mike Yeo got to look into the eyes of his players and see if they were ready.

They were, too.

"I was very confident going into today, knowing the group we have, knowing the leadership we have, seeing how we've responded in the past," Yeo said. "If you're not on the inside and don't know the guys you have, it's a little more difficult (to understand)."

The Wild were thought to be almost a lock for the post-season after investing $196 million in free agents Ryan Suter and Parise. But they had to sweat it out to the last game of the regular season.

Just a month ago, the Wild led the Northwest Division but swayed down the stretch, going 5-8-1.

They had no wiggle room as Columbus—tied with the Wild for the final spot heading into the last game—rallied to beat Nashville, 3-1. Minnesota held the tiebreaker over the Blue Jackets, provided the team beat Colorado.

Yeo never once asked about the Columbus score. Neither did his players.

"Operated under the assumption they were going to win and we needed to win this game," Yeo explained.

Not once did the Avs broadcast the Blue Jackets' highlights on the scoreboard, either. They could have, just to make the Wild grip their sticks a little tighter.

"Very classy by them," Koivu said. "We were able to focus on our game. It helped a little bit, to focus on your game."

Making the post-season is a big step for a team that hasn't been there since the 2007-08 season.

"Let's make it clear: We're not done," Yeo said. "We're not going to sit on cloud nine and say this is a huge accomplishment. This is a step, a big step, a difficult step for us.

"Now that confidence is there."

Ryan O'Reilly had the lone goal for Colorado, which finished in last place in the West. It remains to be seen if coach Joe Sacco is retained after the Avalanche failed to make the playoffs for a third straight season.

"I'm going to go about my business as usual. Just as I always do," Sacco said. "My job is to coach this team. ... We're certainly headed in the right direction.

"As far as those decisions that will be made, those are the decisions that are out of my hands. I'm not really worried about that right now."

Setoguchi gave the Wild the lead midway through the second period when he wound up and lined a slap shot past a screened Semyon Varlamov on a power play. Colorado pulled Varlamov with 1:38 remaining, but struggled to work it into the Wild zone. Bouchard sealed the win by hustling down the ice and tapping the puck into the net with 3.4 seconds left.

Minnesota caught a break early in the second when a goal by Chuck Kobasew was disallowed after replay officials ruled the puck went in on a kick. Kobasew's right skate knocked it past Backstrom, who was livid when officials signalled for the goal.

The play went under review for several minutes, before the referee announced it no good, drawing boos from the crowd.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere rested after hurting his groin the night before, giving the start to Varlamov. Giguere went out late in the third against Phoenix and Varlamov helped the Avalanche to a shootout win.

Varlamov, who turned 25 on Saturday, was kept quite busy by the Wild, stopping 30 shots.

This might have been the last NHL game for Colorado's Milan Hejduk, who grabbed the final puck just in case he's not back for a 15th season.

"I haven't made up my mind. I will take some time off to consider it and then make my decision," he said.

It's been a tough season for Hejduk, the last remaining link to the 2001 Stanley Cup squad. He had a career-low 11 points and missed time with shoulder and torso injuries.

The 37-year-old Hejduk is second in franchise history in games (1,020), fourth in goals (375) and fifth in assists (430). He's also just the third Czech-born player to reach 800 points, joining Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias.

NOTES: The Wild recalled Fs Stephane Veilleux and Jason Zucker from Houston of the American Hockey League before the game. Veilleux was a scratch. The team also reassigned forwards Jake Dowell and Carson McMillan to Houston. ... Colorado Fs Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau each finished with 43 points. The only previous time in the franchise's history it had teammates share the squad's scoring title was 2008-09 when Hejduk and Ryan Smyth each had 59 points.

Blackhawks emergency backup Eric Semborski gets his own rookie card

News

Blackhawks emergency backup Eric Semborski gets his own rookie card

Eric Semborski landed himself the opportunity of a lifetime when he strapped on the pads as an emergency backup for the Blackhawks, and now Topps has commemorated the moment with a Semborski trading card.

Eric Semborski’s dream came true when he stepped on the ice as an NHL goaltender, albeit an emergency backup, on Dec. 3, and now he’s got an incredible piece of memorabilia to show for it.

Just days after the 23-year-old made his rookie debut, trading card company Topps has unveiled the official Eric Semborski rookie card. That’s right: the 23-year-old has his very own trading card. The card is part of Topps’ NOW series, which features milestone or memorable moments and are made available shortly after the achievement.

Semborski’s stint as the Blackhawks emergency goaltender came due to regular starting netminder Corey Crawford was sent to hospital to undergo an appendectomy. The Blackhawks were scrambling to find a replacement for Crawford, and a backup for Scott Darling, when they started asking around to find an emergency amateur netminder to fill in.

Semborski, a former goaltender at Temple University, was working with children at the Flyers’ practice facility when he was called to sign on for emergency duty. Hilariously, Semborski wore a Blackhawks No. 50 jersey — which most will recognize as Crawford’s number — when he took the ice for warmup. Of the chance to stop NHL shots in warmup, Semborski said it was the best moment of his life.

Possibly the only thing that could have made the moment better was if Semborski actually got into the game and, as it turns out, that was very nearly the case. Post-game, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said that had the Flyers scored on the empty net to stretch their lead in the Saturday afternoon contest, he would have thrown Semborski into the net for the final minute of the outing.

As for the card, there’s no chance it will be worth anything near what a Connor McDavid rookie card will be worth in a decade, but it’s certainly a nice piece of merchandise for the one-day NHL netminder.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

News

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.

News

At least two teams are reportedly interested in acquiring the Sedins for their full cap hit and Canucks veterans could draw interest at the trade deadline. The Kings are looking to clear cap space by moving out Teddy Purcell.

The ongoing struggles of the Vancouver Canucks this season generated some speculation over possible roster moves.

By late-November, The Province's Jason Botchford suggested the Canucks could get an early start on deciding which players to move by the March 1 trade deadline. He felt veterans such as Ryan Miller, Alex Edler, Alexandre Burrows and perhaps even Daniel and Henrik Sedin could be on the move.

Botchford said he knows of two teams that would be willing to acquire the Sedins for their full combined salary-cap hit of $14 million. If the Canucks were to pick up part of that cap hit (which runs through 2017-18), he thinks more clubs would be interested.

The sticking point, of course, is the Sedins' willingness to be traded. So far, they've given no indication that they want out of Vancouver. As Botchford points out, such a move would likely have to take place in the off-season.

Even if the Canucks put the Sedins on the block, they're unlikely to fetch a significant return. While they're still putting up solid numbers (17 points in 26 games), the 36-year-old twins are well past their prime. Teams aren't going to give up a lot for a couple of fading stars. Picks and prospects, sure, but nothing that would immediately reverse the Canucks' fortunes.

As for Miller, he and Canucks management could be willing to work out a contract extension. Botchford's collegue Ben Kuzma doubts the Canucks place the 36-year-old goalie on the block by the trade deadline.

Kuzma notes Miller's stats aren't great this season. However, he feels he'll still be a good fit with Jacob Markstrom, buying some time until promising goalie prospect Thatcher Demko is ready to move up. He wonders if Miller might be agreeable to a two- or three-year deal worth between $4-$4.5 million per season. That's a significant pay cut from Miller's current $6-million annual salary.

Considering Miller's no longer an elite goaltender, he probably won't get much better than that on the open market. He could test next summer's free-agent market, but will likely find few decent offers. He could prefer to avoid uncertainty over his future by staying in Vancouver for a reasonable contract.

KINGS TRYING TO FREE SPACE WITH PURCELL MOVE

Los Angeles Kings left wing Teddy Purcell cleared waivers over the weekend. Signed as a free agent last summer to a one-year, $1.6-million contract, the 31-year-old managed only two points in 12 games this season. Illness and a lower-body injury sidelined him in October, and he was a healthy scratch in the Kings' last four games.

With 21 of 30 NHL teams carrying $2 million or less in cap space, moving Purcell's cap hit is difficult right now. The Kings obviously want to shed his salary without taking any back in a deal. They could be waiting until later in the season to find the right deal.

Rumor Roundup appears regularly only on thehockeynews.com. Lyle Richardson has been an NHL commentator since 1998 on his website, spectorshockey.net, and is a contributing writer for Eishockey News and The Guardian (P.E.I.).For more great profiles, news and views from the world of hockey, subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.

News

Connor McDavid didn’t mince his words when asked post-game about Brandon Manning. He called the Flyers defenseman “classless” and said Manning admitted to injuring him on purpose.

Connor McDavid has had no shortage of head-to-head battles with young stars in the game. There has been outings against Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews and more than handful per year against the Flames duo of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

But of all the players Connor McDavid could have had an on-ice feud with, it seems Brandon Manning is the first real rival for the Oilers phenom.

One might recall that it was during the early part of the 2015-16 campaign that Manning, a Philadelphia Flyers blueliner, got tangled up with McDavid as he looked to break in on goal, resulting in McDavid making hard contact with the boards behind the net. The impact with the boards saw McDavid break his collarbone and led to a 37-game absence for the then-rookie.

It was believed to be an unintentional act, something that simply happened as part of the game, and McDavid had even absolved Manning of any blame. That was until last night, more than 13 months after the Nov. 3, 2015 injury to McDavid..

During the Oilers’ hard-fought 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Flyers, McDavid was seen verbally jousting with Manning on a couple of occasions. The most obvious case came after a power play goal by McDavid, where he was seen skating towards Manning and shouting something in his direction.

It didn’t end there, though. Post-game, the Oilers captain went in on Manning, calling the hit that led to the broken collarbone an intentional act.

"I did all I could defending him last year in the media," McDavid said. "Everyone wanted to make a big deal saying he did it on purpose, and he wanted to say some comments today about what went on last year. I thought it was one of the [most] classless things I've ever seen on the ice. He said some things and our guys responded accordingly. I guess we can put the whole 'if he did it on purpose' thing to rest because what he said out there kind of confirmed that. Shows what kind of guy he is when he doesn’t step up and fight some of our guys.”

Shortly after McDavid commented on the incident, Manning fired back saying that he would “never intentionally hurt someone,” and added that’s not the way he plays.

"Anybody who knows me, I play a hard game,” Manning said, according to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman. “That's the reason I'm here, that's the way I'm in the NHL. I'm not here to score goals like some of those guys. I think I play an honest game, and anyone who knows me knows I play hard and stuff happens out there."